sarada

Before the reviews started to come in, I was hoping this wouldn't be too much lemon and coconut -- but there's such a strange mixture of dark and light, sweet and smoky in this that I didn't know what to expect. It is, indeed, lemon and coconut at first, but smoothed out a bit with the musk and smoky tones. What is it about anything lemony that just dominates a blend so much? Still, I'm enjoying the way that musk and smoke make it a dusky, dark lemon. This feels sophisticated but playful, in a strange way. It's like showing up to a kiddie carnival in a black leather bodysuit with a feathered mask. It lasts much longer than I'd expect anything that lemony to last. I never get heliotrope, which is a scent I really like so that's a shame...or apricot flower either, really. But this could get some wear in the next month as it's festive, a little candy-like and catches the dark autumn air quite nicely.

Say 'incense' and I perk right up. I'm even open to sugared incense. Even with night-blooming flowers, and those have given me wee stabby headaches from time to time. Put that all together and I think this is my favorite of the four in Act I, but I think I'm glad I didn't get a bottle after all because I'm just not seeing myself wearing it enough. The incensy elements are like those in Cracked Bell to me -- it's a bit perfumey and ozone but there are hints of champa in it. Not getting so much the sugared aspect, but the florals are definitely suspended in the air alongside little wafts of that slightly dusty incense scent. It does make me a tiny bit queasy though, kind of like Chrysanthemum Moon did. I can't really account for why. But even though I love the faintly sweet echo of smoky champa in the distance, it's crowded out a bit by a powdery cloud of perfumey florals. This actually matched very well with the dress I was wearing today (a hippie dress with draping, bright orange bell sleeves and otherwise mostly black), so I am glad that I have some of this to suit those strange moods where I feel both brightly hippyish but secretly dark and brooding. I'm not getting that "gotta have!" feeling though.

Wow -- bright, spicy cherry, sparkling with lemon and shot through with spicy cardamom. Lots of cardamom. A bit like Alone, with the cardamom grounded in patchouli, but -- this is Alone wandering through a psychedelic red and yellow carnival arcade, with flashing golden lights and bright cherry-red clown noses flashing. Cherry gummies, red hots, lemon drops, dusted with cinnamon sugar -- all shining against a dark backdrop. Or perhaps it's a candy castle in the dark woods at night. It's lovely, even though it's not my typical thing to wear. I get all the cardamom I need from Alone, and I only like that when I layer it with Geek. Cherry reminds me too much of almond, and lemon just isn't a good scent on me. So while I appreciate the imagery I get from this -- a lot! -- it's going to be a sniffer but not a keeper.

Tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark are just about the three best things in the universe, in my book. There's really nothing better. I could die happy with nothing but bottles of those three substances to smell. Unfortunately, almond and milk are the bane of my existence. It's not an allergy, just an intense dislike. Almond pierces my brain and churns my stomach. Milk always, always smells sour to me. Almond milk is a queasy headache of a proposition and I'm immediately turned off by the smell floating atop this amazing piney woody bouquet. Not sure about the sarsaparilla, it might be contributing to that initial sour milky almond that turns me off. Ahh, but it dries down to something completely different. Now it is like Golden Priapus. It's a soft golden vanilla pine. A glorious green-gold, shining, pure and clear. Gorgeous pine backed up with a touch of wood and earth. No more almond milk. Now it is a lovely thing to behold. I don't think I would wear it though because of the early stage...it's hard to get through. I think I might just get Golden Priapus in a bottle some day, to get that same delicious pine. Some day, my tobacco, patchouli and pine scent will come though!

I really love Dorian, which is a bit of a surprise since I really dislike vanilla and sweet scents in general, but there's just something very special about that blend. So, I had high hopes for this blend too! And it is very similar indeed at first. There is a very crisp, glittering freshness to this, a bit closer to Black Opal perhaps but very sugary. Very much like the sugar in La Fee Verte actually, and a touch of that lemony sparkle that must be the bergamot in Earl Grey. I think Theodosius is ultimately a little too sugary though --- someone trying to spoon sugar into their tea accidentally dumped in the whole sugar bowl and the lemons too! I'm not getting the musk that anchors Dorian and I'm really surprised that the fougere isn't taking off on my skin like lavender incense. A friend had said this has a woodsmoke stage on her after awhile and i do get a bit of a smoky wisp after a halfhour or so...perhaps that is the fougere, which has a very smoky quality on me. But it's not quite doing it. I think I'll play around with the few drops that I have, but Dorian is the winner and still champ in the sugared tea battle!

I had expected something more aquatic and glassy in tone from this, with the cucumber and mysterious blue lotus -- this is a much more luxurious, heady, thick, sweet fruit floral than I had expected. In fact, the pear blows me away at first -- it reminds me of the fruits that sparkle at the top of Hanging Gardens, which also contains pear (perhaps the same one?). Tropical, fruity blooms. If motia attar=jasmine sambac=pikake, then that would be what I smell. It's a lush, thick, sweet floral nectar -- not the sharp jasmine spike through the brain, but a soothing sweet jasmine tea with a succulent lotus leaf floating on top. It's a bit floral for my taste in general, but the fruitiness and the staying power of that pale musk pull it together and I want to keep it around. It dries down beautifully as well. Although I don't always wear things in the jasmine family well, sometimes it just combines right with other elements and gives me a scent I used to catch in the air at night...an intoxicating, pale, honeyed jasmine that lulls me to sleep. If I ever said that lotus and jasmine scents are dealbreakers for me, well, here's your evidence that I'm a hypocrite. Here's how to make them work, even on a floral-hating, earth/wood-lover like me. I don't know that I'll wear it a lot, but I think it will be a great nighttime blend and it definitely will suit me just fine when I'm in the mood for this kind of thing!

Upon first sniff, Schwarzer Mond and I are best friends. It immediately reminds me of my beloved Capricorn, with its glossy, polished wood sweet earthy notes -- and Dance of Death, with its deep green tones and hint of spicy myrrh. Glistening resins and sweet, glossy dark wood, sparkling and deep. The patchouli and myrrh do pair somewhat like they do in Dance of Death, but there is so much more going on in here. It softens considerably with a little wear, becoming more like dusty, earthy woods and resins and a blanket of deep dark evergreen. I can't break it down any farther than that, it's just a perfect, slightly sweet, earthy, wood and resin dream with a longlasting powdery myrrh memory and it's an immediate favorite for me. Someone is brewing a dark green potion on a wooden table cluttered with bunches of herbs and branches from fragrant evergreens. Chunks of resins and powdery incense waits a spark to set it smoking. I will have to hope that one bottle is enough to satisfy me, but this is a classic, perfect blend and my Top Ten LEs once again has to get a bump to make room for this one. Choosing ten is getting harder and harder.

Just had to add: I put on Aureus tonight (after bathing with Lush's Tramp) and OH GOD do I smell good!! Thanks for reminding me how much I love this, everyone!

I'm going to scratch my head over the Torture King/High John comparison too since Torture King is a smooth dark manly smoky leathery wood with dark orange and lime smothered in resin, and High John was a migraine-inducing high-pitched perfume counter floral to me! Well you never know, skin does strange things to perfume sometimes! I do see a Flower Moon=Phantom Queen comparison upthread that I can attest to though as those are two of the only florals that I like and they are very similar to this nose. And I love them both in early spring!

Oh crap, I always forget Aureus! Definitely warm, gritty, earthy resins, candlelight and glorious amber. Oh yes, Aureus indeed!!! I have a whole bottle and I keep forgetting. If you can go with a little honey and herbs in with that scenario, Anubis too maybe? Honey comes out smelling sweaty on me unfortunately in all but a few blends.

Oh yeah, Tushnamatay! I actually want a bottle of that really badly -- a sweet, light resiny scent...but I keep forgetting since it doesn't list notes in the description. Heh. Also who can resist a scent that starts with the word "tush"?

I was very lucky to receive a gift of some of this scent, and my suspicions are right...it's perfect for me! At first, I am reminded of Torture King, which was what struck me when I got a brief whiff of this at a meet 'n sniff awhile back. Like Torture King...but with less of the orangey-lime top notes that remind me a bit of Royall Lyme cologne in that blend. On my skin, it becomes more smoky...leathery...woodsy. It's got that spicy wood scent that can only be myrrh, in my experience, complete with the faintly powdery phase it goes through. Myrrh in general also has that masculine cologne association for me, but in a good way. In a warm, comforting sort of way. Although I don't smell those dark woody citrus notes as loud as in Torture King I feel like there must be one deeply buried in here because I keep coming back to the echoes of Royall Lyme in my subconscious...but a more musky, woodsy, myrrh-rich blend with no aftershave connotations. Maybe even a hint of pine in there somewhere. It's a dark smoky woody blend and therefore it's totally my bag. It's a dad scent, too...I mean, Lyme and smoke were THE scents in my house. Nothing makes me feel quite as comfortable and at home.

Hey, that's what some of us are going for! (needs an emoticon of an abashed-looking hippie). I've been burning incense nonstop for 20 years to cultivate that!

I tend to think that "incense" could mean just about anything, since incense can contain pretty much anything from florals to vanilla to woods. Though I do tend to think of incense as having a woody base, I don't know if it has to! "Incense" would, I think, be a broad category that could include resins but was not limited to them. Penitence, Cathedral, Anne Bonny, Magus, Pit & the Pendulum, Midnight Mass, and maybe Al Azif are what I think of as the most resiny, off the top of my head. The ones that I think of as "incensy" are ones that specifically have nag champa/champaca in them -- Urd, Hellion, and things that I suspect have it in them like Cracked Bell -- or things that contain Red Musk, like Scherezade, Lust, Fenris Wolf, etc. Then there are the woody or pine scents, which also contain ingredients that crop up in incense a lot... Anyway, may I just suggest Death Cap btw if you like earthy scents? Maybe check out resiny/earthy or perhaps wood blends rather than the vague 'incense' description, since it looks like that could also refer to smoky florals that don't contain strong resin. ETA: nice list, ivyandpeony!! I remember buying bottles unsniffed of The Caterpillar and Crossroads because the word "incense" was in them but it was more of a soapy floral jasmine that gave me a headache, when I tried it on.

I kind of OD'd on scents today because I slathered myself in Black Tower before even realizing I'd have Mum Moom waiting for me at the post office today. But over the course of the day I think I've been able to test this sufficiently to put together my impression. In the bottle, there is a sharp and heady, dusty floral note that I think I recognize from Harvest Moon '06 as the only note that gave me a bit of a sinus headache. But it clears after applying it... Musky, dusty autumn flowers is my first impression. The mums are a bit stronger than I expected, and they soar right up my nose. There's a faint spark of spice, and it warms and sweetens a little on my skin. Smoky, sharp mums with a layer of dusty musk. It becomes a bit more mellow and almost herbal as it dries. It very slightly reminds me of a sort of dusting powder I must have encountered in childhood. I am reminded of the top of my grandmother's dresser, where she kept perfumes and powders. That does NOT mean it smells like "grandmother perfume." Far from it! But I am put in the mind of antique dusting powders and turn of the century cosmetics. I've seen the word "creamy" applied to it several times but I would not apply that word to it...it's a bit of a perfumey floral musk for me, a touch of ginger and a bitter herbal tang, and a heady musty swoon. It is one of the very rare blends that I would classify as an autumn floral, since I don't think of flowers when I think of autumn. I'm not sure if it's going to give me a headache or not so I will have to test it more, on clean skin and in an environment free of distracting scents (like the candles and incense I have going right now). The bottle is so gorgeous I don't know if I could part with it even if it does give me a headache though!

I like the sound of almost everything in this blend -- fruit, roses, resins. I'm imagining it could be a bit too light, sweet and golden for my fickle skin but it still sounds like a classic. Freshly applied, this is the same kind of very fresh, crunchy, just-bit-into-it apple that I love in Harvest Moon '06. Nothing cidery or pie-like, just very fresh, crisp apple against a glistening golden honey background. I tend to only really go for honey when it's spiked with herbs (as in Honey Moon) or incense (Masque) but I like it here too. I didn't remember orange blossom as an ingredient but that comes out a little bit later and the whole blend goes a bit orangey on me (orange the color, not orange the fruit) as the peach kicks in for the final act. Not smelling the rose or resins at all...this is all about apple, honey and a hint of orange blossom. Although I like fruity blends, this isn't dark or strong enough for me to wear much but I really like it and love those opening apple notes. Whatever Beth is using for apple lately is really kicking my ass! This will be hugely popular I think, and deservedly so!

I was drooling at the notes for this: patchouli, pomegranate, myrrh, blood musk and smoke are all to die for in my book, and I'm OK with dragon's blood in many blends. Cassia, though....whenever dragon's blood and a spice come together in a blend there's just no escaping it. It's Michael's craft store, from October to December. It's that simmering potpourri cinnamon scent that I'm just not all that wild about. If it wasn't for the cassia I might be able to smell something else in this blend, but it's just allll that dark cinnamony scent that I don't care for. After I wear it for awhile, the cinnamon scent fades and I get a bit more of the dusty, woody, incensy notes. There's a trace of the deep, heady dark red musk but I think to most people around me it would still smell like cinnamon. Damn. I just don't like cinnamon.

I'm also hung up on textbook images of dinosaurs when I read the description of this...I am fascinated by the concept behind this scent... It strikes me as kind of a menthol scent at first, a strong impression of heat -- but also steam coming off of hot rocks. Mists shroud a pine forest, but it's not winter -- it's warm, and the air is thick and humid after a rainstorm. Now it's a block of ice melting in a cave in a tropical jungle. Maybe some sort of prehistoric beast is frozen inside, and coming back to life? After the menthol scent dies down, it has a sort of damp, mineral smell to it with some impressions of dark greenery...not floral, not sweet, just once again like some sort of evergreen, but not frosty pines. This is definitely worth trying, for the experience, and I think it could grow on me as a fragrance if I didn't just have so many to play with these days! Abstract, conceptual scents like these fill me with the greatest anticipation and excitement whenever there is an update.

The sheer complexity of this blend attracted me to it even though most of the ingredients don't appeal...but those often work out to be the best scents, unexpectedly! At first I'm struck by sharp, smoky wine-damp wood. It's a dark room lit only by the glint of lamp light, distorted through glass bottles tinted dark amber and violet. It reminds me of The Black Tower for a moment...something about smoky wood, wine and something sharp and green. Then it transitions into Fortunato's wine cellar. In just minutes though the dark curtains part and the main attraction is unveiled in the gloomy tavern: La Fee Verte, just visible through a shroud of murk and smoke. She is sparkling green and sugared. This settles into a steady wave of darkened La Fee Verte for the rest of the trip, with wafts of the wine caskets drifting up on a smoky breeze every time someone opens the door to the cellar. Looking at the ingredient list, I'm rather amazed that there are so many florals in this. I really don't smell any at all. I love anything with a fougere in it though so this isn't surprising. This takes some of my favorite elements from other wine and wood-soaked blends and recombines them into something new. I can't justify any more bottles right now until I really prove that I need to wear something on a regular basis...and there just aren't enough days in a year! But this is a serious contender, and I hope it sticks around for a long time. If you yearn for something like La Fee Verte but enjoy a slightly darker, smokier version with a hint of wood, this would definitely fit the bill.

Teak, teak, teak! That's me, the insane person running around the room screaming "Teak!" every time a scent comes up that includes it. I LOVE teak. I covet these expensive $25 teakwood candles every time I see them in a boutique shop but I never buy one because that's a lot of money for a candle. Um, although I spent $300 on perfume this month. Aaaaaaanyway. I love teak. I love cedar. I love rose when it is combined with a wood, incense, resin or smoke scent. I guess I probably like labdanum. Though the slightly sour scent that starts off this blend might be labdanum -- it's rather strong and a little bitter, but quickly burns off on my skin. This becomes a gorgeous, shining, polished teakwood on my skin, smouldering with darkest, resiny smoke and the blackened petals of a perfect, dried red rose. A bit like Parlement of Foules in a way, but with dark smoky polished wood instead of sweet resin. Oh dear lord this is gorgeous. Smoky dark woody resiny rose. Oh yes. Bring hither the haunted bloody marionettes, this is just what I was hoping for.

The notes listed for Mme. Moriarty are kind of a who's who of some of my favorite things, with the exception of vanilla though I am open to liking it sometimes. All of the red-purple family of scents that I love, backed up by the almighty patchouli! This looks promising. As expected, in the bottle I smell first the wonderful red musk, one of my very favorite notes that the lab uses. It's shimmering like a red veil over what vaguely smells like Snake Charmer (minus the more coconutty parts of that scent). I immediately recognize those Snake Oil-family notes, whatever they are...syrupy, gritty and spicy, sensual and red-gold. After a brief plasticky phase it becomes radiantly deep red-purple fruit with a shimmer of bleary golden haze. This is some strong stuff. I distinctly smell tobacco for a moment there...fruity pipe tobacco. I know this one will get me the "mmm, smells like pipe smoke" remarks that so many of my favorites do. When it has moderately dried down this is nothing like the Snake Charmer/Snake Oil I had at first likened it to though it's a cousin. A fruity, pale spice lingers over deep tobacco, and red musk lingers like the flush on pale skin after lovemaking. Very strong, deeply sensual and certainly sure to be one of the lab's most well-loved creations.

I probably look kind of weird, nuzzling my arm like this. Mmmm, hello arm, how are you? You are looking very sexy today, arm. This is phenomenal. This is completely unique among what I've tried from the lab, which thus far is something like 600 blends. Oh I recognize little flashes of leather and pine and cedar from other fragrances but all together like this, it is entirely new -- yet an instant classic. I feel like this was here all along. In the bottle it seems very light, and just fainty musky and resiny -- I can't really get a handle on it. I smeared some on my arm, waited a little bit and......oh. Oh my. First, I'm reminded of lumps of pure resin, smouldering on coals -- but outdoors, with evergreens all around on a smoky, starry night just on the cusp of autumn. Dry, hot resiny incense on a crisp, clear night. All of the smoky crispness of autumn with the warmth of snuggling under a blanket, rubbing your face against a stubbly chin, reclining into a soft bed of evergreen needles. I wear what would probably mostly be considered masculine scents myself but I really need to try this on one of my mustachioed test subjects to see how it works on them. I'd follow someone to the ends of the earth if they smelled like this.

I can't believe that I hold in my hands a bottle The Jersey Devil...I have long wished for such a thing. To have it finally here, and have it be so much like I imagined, is beyond description! I should have ordered a 10 ml in the brief window they were available. In the bottle, this is a forest -- bright, crisp pine and cedar, just like the real thing. The dry needles underfoot, the damp branches -- it's got a hint of Mistletoe in it but all in all it seems much darker to me than the other Yule-ish woodsy blends and lacks the snowy note. Sniffing this straight from the bottle, this is the essence of the Pine Barrens. As it dries I do get a lot more of the berry -- specifically cranberry and it gets quite strong at one point before fading and drying down to the dry cedar/pine scent with just a touch of reddish sweetness. I don't specifically smell tomato leaf but I think it is helping to lighten the darker woods and make those notes crest and spike in lighter shades of green. I also tried this on a guy (I try to keep one around for those purposes) and it went magnificently cedary on him. The berry phase might be stronger on some people than others. Living just outside the Pine Barrens and having visited them frequently throughout my life...being caught up in the mythology of this strange place...this is just a dream come true. This perfectly captures the strange, twisted woods and the fresh, dry quality that the air has there as you wander among the dwarf pines and sandy roads, past the ruins of abandoned houses. This will have to be enshrined in my Top Ten, not only because it is a fragrance that I absolutely love but because it feels as though it was made especially for us Jersey folks!

I had sniffed this at Absinthetics' meet & sniff last week and was completely enthralled. Yes, it does smell rather like Ice Queen! This is the new scent I was the most excited about. Frost and clay? Love it. I couldn't wait to try it out. In the imp, it does very much remind me of that unique combination of elements in Ice Queen -- clean, faintly minty with a musky undertone, like a sheet of ancient ice, with years of soil and greenery trapped beneath the surface. Kumari is a little bit more watery than icy, as though the thick sheet of ice has clear rivulets running off from it. The ancient greenery trapped within the opaque sheen begins to crumble and break apart, releasing a refreshing burst of fresh, fragrant leafy fronds darkened by mildew and age. As it dries down a faintly earthy scent, damp clay, takes the place of those aquatic/icy notes. After the initial, fresh and frosty muted minty blast that directly recalls Ice Queen, I think of shards of ancient pottery frozen in ice, emerging as a distant sun begins to melt the ancient glaciers. This is just a masterpiece. I like it even better than Ice Queen because it incorporates at bit of earthiness in it. I definitely need a bottle, the question is how soon can I get one? I love these conceptual scents -- ice, snow, stone, space. I want more!

Seduction is, I agree, almost pure ylang ylang to my nose. It's so ylang ylang that I can't take it! I think that a YY fan might enjoy Tisiphone too. I don't like YY a whole lot but I do like Tisiphone.